


The Card

by theChickenpony



Category: Bleach
Genre: Because this is allllllll the cheese, F/M, I am serious, I hope you like cheese, Mindless Fluff, There is no plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-29 16:44:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6384403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theChickenpony/pseuds/theChickenpony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Byakuya has a crush, Rukia has a birthday, and Fate has a plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Card

**Author's Note:**

  * For [My Fishpony](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=My+Fishpony).



> Updates every 4th of April.  
> Originally posted on Fanfiction.net in 2014.

Dearest Rukia

When I saw you for the very first time, something stirred in me that I had presumed dead. I knew I had to have you for myself. And right there and then, as soon as it had healed, my heart broke again, for you were undoubtedly the one I was seeking: my late wife's sister, destined to be adopted into the family as my own sibling. I would never be able to love you the way I yearned to. However, I am unable to contain myself any longer.

Rukia, I love you. I love you so much more than I ever thought I would be able to love anyone again. I love you more than I have a right to, and I always have. You have made me so much happier than I deserve to be and I hope that one day you will be able to say the same about me. You are the single most important thing in my life. Should the moon, the stars and even the sun fall from the heavens and the world be plunged into darkness for all eternity, I would be alright, as long as you stayed by my side.

I have realized that there are some things that are more important than keeping ancient vows. So here's to breaking promises again and again, and making brand new ones with you.

Wishing you a very happy birthday,

Kuchiki Byakuya


	2. The Box

_Wishing you a very happy birthday,_

_Kuchiki Byakuya_  

He put the brush down. Carefully, he re-read the letter that betrayed all his meticulously hidden emotions. He stared disdainfully at the page then folded it up and placed it in a wooden jewellery box with all the others he had written over the years. All the letters he would never dare send.

* * *

Rukia knew what she was doing was both wrong and dangerous. If her brother ever found out she was in his study without his permission… She shuddered. She didn't even want to imagine consequences that dire, but she suspected her punishment would kick off with the word "scatter."

She couldn't help it. Her birthday was the following day and Renji had told her he saw her brother hiding her gift in his desk. She was mad with curiosity, but Renji refused to tell her what he saw. She had tried to guess, but he just smiled knowingly at her whenever she did. That idiot! It was hard to imagine that Renji could keep a secret like that, but of course, this one time, just because it would annoy her, he could. She had tried every method of persuasion and interrogation in her arsenal, including beating him to the brink of death, but he wouldn't give her so much as a hint.

She had to know!

Maybe it was that limited edition Chappie she wanted, no, needed! Rukia squealed with anticipation, then quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. Her heart pounded like a runaway racehorse. If she was found here at this ungodly hour…  
Rukia listened for a moment, absolutely silent, frozen in place, waiting for Byakuya to suddenly emerge from the shadows. Finally certain she was still safe, she continued systematically searching his drawers. So far, her search had been wildly unsuccessful: paperwork, ink and brushes, paperwork, paperwork, a book on calligraphy, more paperwork. She crossed her fingers that the final drawer would contain the answers she sought.

Praying silently to Chappie, she slowly opened the last drawer. She was relieved to see it didn't contain paperwork, but instead a wooden jewellery box.  
At first she was disappointed that she had been unable to find out what her gift was after risking her neck, but she supposed she should have expected that level of unreliability. She did get her information from _Renji_. Then it occurred to her that the gift might be in the box. Of course! Her brother wouldn't buy anything as common as a plushie, even if it was a limited edition plushie! It was probably those cute Chappie earrings she secretly admired!

She carefully opened the jewellery box, wondering what was going through Byakuya's head when he decided to keep a jewellery box a) in his desk and b) unlocked. To her relief it wasn't the noisy, musical kind of jewellery box. The kind that would get her caught and killed. Unfortunately, what it also wasn't, was a container for her birthday gift. Somewhat unsurprisingly, it was filled with letters. More bloody letters. Of course. Typical.  
She was just about to give up and go to bed, when she noticed they were all addressed to her. _I shouldn't read them_ , she thought, _I shouldn't be rifling through Brother's things in the first place. I should put everything back and go to bed. If he wanted me to read these, he would have sent them instead of hiding them. I should leave. Right now._

In the end, curiosity won out and she began to read.

* * *

Byakuya didn't bother dressing when he heard a crash coming from the direction of his study. He just grabbed his zanpakutou and disappeared off to the room in question. He was one-hundred-percent ready for battle, but stopped dead in his tracks, aghast, when he saw the intruder was Rukia, and the loud noise was the jewellery box clattering to the floor. His jewellery box. The secret one. The one containing his letters. The private letters addressed to Rukia. The ones she must never, ever see. The ones she was reading at that moment, right in front of him.

Curses.

"Rukia," he said darkly.

She looked up immediately. He couldn't understand her expression, but his guess was that it was some version of overwhelming disgust. "Brother…" she whispered timidly. An agonising moment of horrified silence passed between them.

"I can explain," they said simultaneously.


	3. The Choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One day early because we're doing that now

Byakuya had said he could explain, but he couldn’t. He was at a loss for words. What could he possibly say? There was no way she hadn’t read even one of those letters. No way he could deny what he had meant – his words were always unequivocal.

He straightened himself up, squared his shoulders, hardened his jaw. He swallowed his emotion. Rukia had said she could explain. “Please do,” he said coldly.

Rukia stared at him like a deer in headlights. She too had no way to talk her way out of this situation. She had been caught red-handed snooping in his study, the evidence of her transgression strewn about her like debris around the eleventh squad. Convictions, everywhere she turned.

She glanced around the room, mouth opening and shutting wordlessly as she searched for plausible ideas. None occurred to her. She dropped her gaze entirely.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. “How dare you?” he said softly, without inflection. “I am disappointed in you.” If she had seen something she did not want to see, something he could not take back, then that was her own fault, he justified. He turned to sweep out of the room, ignoring the pit of guilt in his abdomen.

“Brother, wait!” Rukia suddenly called urgently after him.

He stopped. “You would do well not to rifle through the personal effects of others, Rukia,” he said without looking at her.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled faintly. Whatever she had wanted to say, she suddenly thought better of.

Byakuya started walking again. Hell, he hated himself. This – hurting Rukia – was what he resorted to in order to save face. And for what? What could he possibly gain from this? The milk was already spilt. Acting rudely would not ameliorate the situation. But what else could he have done? He sighed inwardly in frustration.

He was sure he hadn’t broken any rules by keeping the letters to himself, so why did it go wrong? No, writing the letters in the first place was breaking the rules. Allowing himself to feel the forbidden was breaking the rules. But so what? Where had following the rules ever gotten him? Yet breaking them always seemed to come back to bite him in the end. What then, was he to do? What would his parents say about this mess?

He didn’t even want to think about what Hisana would say. Actually, what _would_ she say? He was betraying her by writing those letters, and betraying her by hurting Rukia. He simply could not seem to stay on the path Hisana had set for them. So now what, Hisana? What was he to do when morning came? He saved face tonight, but what about tomorrow?

_You cannot save face and lose heart simultaneously._

Byakuya’s eyes widened, and he stopped. Hisana used to say that to him all the time, and it made sense to him. Nobody who loses their composure in a bleak situation would be able to keep their good reputation. Obviously. He knew that. But she always shook her head at him when he drew that conclusion. It meant something else, she’d say. Quite the opposite, in fact. That did not make sense to him.

Until now.

He turned around. He had something to say.


	4. The Confession

Byakuya turned on his heels, and ran for the study. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest with unbridled fear of what he was about to face, but for this moment – this fateful moment – his mind was reeling too much to care. It was too late anyway – she knew already. And now he was going to face the music. He was going to throw away those damn rules that never got him anywhere for one second of his life and pour his heart out. He had nothing left to lose.

His footsteps pounded on the wooden floors as he ran, bursting through the doors of his study. “Rukia, I’m sorry!” he shouted, as far from composed as he had ever been. “Please forgive me! It’s true – all of it is true! Rukia, I love you!”

But Rukia was gone. He was too late.


End file.
